Leon and Thetrous and Nei were old guard as they called them in the White Shields. They were veterans. They had been around for a longer time. Two humans and a half-human/half-dwarf. They had seen one another around, for all the White Shields knew each other. But they had never been together on the same mission before. In the White Shields groups are made and dissolved regularly depending on how well they worked together and tasks that needed to be done. In this case the higher ups decided that these three were needed to lead some new recruits. In this case those said recruits were mainly human.

Alberyn, the great country of the Dwarves, had more dwarves than the neighboring country Lunae. So why would a band of the White Shields be made up of humans? At first this had bugged Leon a little bit. He was used to being one of the few humans around in the White Shields. Now, he was being told to help lead a band of humans and half-humans. The older man sighed as he remembered the day that this human central group came together. He had been sitting on a fence, dangling his legs, waiting bored. Laid out before him was a training field for the White Shields. That day they had gotten two fresh newbies and two reassigned from other Bands. The newbies were definitely new. He remembered being exasperated at the youngest man, Caden, for his pride and arrogance. Though Thetrous didn't seem to mind, and joined in occasionally with his own boasts of his prowess.

However, that had been days ago. Now they were a days ride from Baron Laflur's castle, near the southern edge of Elensa. When Leon had found out their destination he had realized why the abundance of humans in their band. Elensa was swarming with racists. Men and women who hated anyone who wasn't human. Their elitist attitude helped them justify why the routinely ignored the ruling Council of Ceris. However they had been told that Baron Laflur was different. Sure he was still a racist and a human elitist, but the Baron also wanted to open boarders more and encourage trade. Because of this, some of the other Barons didn't like him very much. In fact his neighboring Baron, Baron Devon, was attacking poor Baron Laflur because of his progressive ideas. Thus, it was their job to secure Castle Laflur and enable this Baron to keep pushing his own agenda.

Nei whistled loudly as he rode along. Traveling was interesting even though the countrymen were hateful, and this human band was interesting too. It was nice to finally work with Thetrous and Leon after seeing them around for so many years, and it was always fun to meet newbies. At first he hadn't been so sure about being with so many of his own kind. It was strange after so many years spent mostly in the company of dwarves, with some elves. But they seemed alright, and in any case they were all White Shield. Nei wondered idly if he was in danger of getting too used to human company

The castle had been in view on the horizon for a while now. Nei hadn't been keeping track of time, so he didn't know how long it had been. But now dusk was creeping in and they were really getting close.

"Is the Baron sending someone to wait for us at the entrance?", asked Nainë, riding behind him with her staff strapped horizontally to the left side of her saddle. The side with the crescent sagged down, and Nei thought it must be annoying to lug that thing around, forgetting that he himself walked around with a huge axe strapped to his back.
"Eh, who knows", he answered. "Hope so. Else we might have to convince whoever's at the gate that we're not on a mission from Ceris." The good people of Elensa probably wouldn't care much for White Shields, seeing how they were mostly composed of dwarves in general.

As they all found out just a few minutes later, the Baron did have someone waiting for them at the gate. Before they even reached it a man rode out to the band of White Shields. He carried a standard displaying a sable rose on a silver field.
"Hail, White Shields", he called. "Baron Laflur welcomes you to his castle." When he reached them, he continued, "Follow me, if you please."

Nei grinned. It was good to be welcomed.

The castle was really your standard castle. Anywhere you'd go you'd find the same pieces. Towers, a moat, draw bridge. The only difference from the towers Caden was used to was that this one was prepared for battle. Men were armed and arranged on top of the defensive walls. Most of them had bows next to them or even holding them, ready. The drawbridge was lowered because they were expected. The young soldier was a little uncomfortable with the set up. He had been born to follow in his father's footsteps, but this would be his first time ever seeing true battle.

The castle was really your standard castle. Anywhere you'd go you'd find the same pieces. Towers, a moat, draw bridge. The only difference from the towers Caden was used to was that this one was prepared for battle. Men were armed and arranged on top of the defensive walls. Most of them had bows next to them or even holding them, ready. The drawbridge was lowered because they were expected. The young soldier was a little uncomfortable with the set up. He had been born to follow in his father's footsteps, but this would be his first time ever seeing true battle.

The young skinny blond watched as a rider pealed away from the castle to ride out to meet them. When they were hailed, they followed, even though it wouldn't be hard to know what way to enter as there was only one. Caden sat up straighter in his saddle to make sure he was proper. He had grown up in Elensa and perhaps understood the idea that humans were superior better than anyone out of the small band. Even if they were all human, or in the case of their esteemed veteran Thetrous, half-human. Which was desperately obvious and would probably be a problem. Which was why he should have been left behind.

Not that anyone had shared his opinion, he had tried a few days out from the castle to tell the other new band members, but they had just looked at him funny. Especially the westerner, Mordechai. Or as he asked to be called, Moradi. Which was apparently his last name. Who named their child with a similar first and last name? It was ludicrous. Like the half-dwarf. He was travelling with a pack of morons. When they reached the inner court yard the escort had everyone dismount. Stable hands appeared to take their horses.

"The Baron is waiting in the war room." The escort said, still leading the way. He was a happy man, he started chatting with anyone who would listen. Which meant the half-dwarf was more than happy to join in. That man was a talker. He had even assumed the same casual friendliness with Caden when they had first met. The walk to the appointed meeting place took a while since it was in the keep. They had to go up a flight of stairs in the circle, down another flight and up another one. Sure it was to keep out invaders, but it took forever to get anywhere. Caden's own home was similarly arranged.

"Ah. White Shields. I trust your journey was swift and pleasant. Sit, have something to drink, you must be thirst. Boy! Bring drink and food from the kitchens and be quick about it!" The Baron return his attention to the seven men, well- six men and one woman, after yelling at his squire. He was an older man, probably about in his late forties. He had a little bit of a beer belly, but it wasn't that he had let himself go. It was obvious he was still in good shape. He had a large mustache, that was graying, which hung down past his chin. He gestured again to make sure everyone sat.

"I assume you've all heard about my problem. That Bastard Baron seeks to kill me and ruin my plans to bring to this years meeting my ideas of open trade. Too long have we been putting everyone else down." The Baron sighed. "And for my trouble I now have a war." His steel grey eyes moved over to the map of the area. "They are massing in the north from Baron's Hogswallup's lands. So far they're not a large enough force to come against me, but Baroness Janus is coming to Heath's aid. In two days their force will be strong enough to come against me and they will wait me out." The Baron sighed.

"If we can discourage Carla Janus from adding her men, Heath will have no choice but to draw back or meet me on equal footing. My home and I will win." The Baron finished with triumph in his voice. "But I cannot leave my Castle unguarded long enough to dissuade the Baroness, and I hope you men, and lady- My apologies, can."

[[Note: Baroness Carla Janus took over her husband's Barondom when he passed away of old age. She's a older woman and very set in her ways. Baron Heath Devon is about the same age as LaFlur. He is also of a same mind as Janus.]]

The castle was prepared for battle. It pleased Kai, making his blood pulse. The long walk through the castle let him appreciate the business and everything that came with preparing for battle. He didn't particularly listen to the conversation with their escort, although he paid attention enough to hear anything interesting. The man was talking about the castle's current situation, and the general situation of the area. Refusing the Council's authority didn't seem to be a good decision for Elensa; they could have avoided a lot of bickering just by listening to a party who had the bigger picture in mind. A picture that included more races than just humans, for instance.

Kainen hadn't thought twice about keeping up his human identity when he joined the White Shields, indeed he had barely thought about it once. But he was beginning to realize he would have to keep up appearances particularly well during this mission. He honestly didn't care if his companions found out he wasn't human, but the people of this land would make him regret it if he slipped up. Sometimes Kai was glad of his clipped ears. Although, he reminded himself, he wouldn't be here if not for his human appearance. They wouldn't have sent him, a new member of the order, on this mission if he weren't a human.

Kai sat down at the Baron's table, as did the others. They were all in a row facing Laflur, Kai sitting at the end next to Nainë with her staff between them. Glancing down the row, it looked like the three Shield veterans had sat themselves in the middle, directly across from the Baron, and the two younger men were at the opposite end of the table. The seven of them didn't look half bad together, he thought. The group was quite diverse despite the uniformity of race. Only one non-human if you didn't count Kainen, and even that one was half-human. It was strange, you almost forgot how tall Elves and Men were. Their height seemed normal without all the Dwarves in comparison. The half-dwarf half-human actually looked short.

Food and drink came quickly, as it should. This was a castle after all. Kai didn't touch anything, unlike Nainë right next to him. She dug in as if she hadn't eaten all day. Kai smirked a little, he would never have thought such a thin little thing would act like that. He crossed his arms and leaned back when the Baron started talking. Since he was kind of watching her, he noticed how Nainë's big grey eyes latched onto the Baron. The woman barely blinked. Kai was glad it wasn't him she was staring at like that... It was unsettling.

"What would you have us do? As you can see, there are not enough of us to fight an army." It was that axe-wielder talking. Nei. Kainen rather liked him: he knew what he was doing and he looked like he'd get himself dirty. His experience couldn't rival Kai's as the Man had to be in his twenties, possibly early thirties: not many years to an Elf. But a decade or so of experience in the same organization meant he really knew what he was about. Kai was perfectly content to let him or Thetrous or Leon do the talking. Anyone really, except that little prick Caden. Green as grass and thought himself king of the world. It was one thing to be young and think everything that happened to you was the center of the universe, but if you'd been out a little, fought and traveled the world and met people, it was ridiculous to have nothing to talk about but yourself. Although Kainen had to admit he found it a little amusing.

The Baron sighed. "Yes, I couldn't hire nearly enough of you for a full-on attack. But perhaps you could find another way to dissuade her." His eyes scanned the map in front of him, and so did Kai's. It was a map of the area, with Laflur's castle in the center and the city of Endel on the right edge. His neighbor Devon's lands were east of here, as big as Laflur's lands. Janus' castle was northeast, above Devon, and her lands were smaller. Hogswallup was north, where Laflur's enemies were apparently massing. Two days... That didn't leave them much time. Perhaps the most they could do in that short frame was a parley which wouldn't get anywhere. Various other names were printed around Laflur's lands, varying in size and in the colors and symbols overlaid on their section of the map. Kainen wondered who those Barons were and who they'd side with in a pinch. It might look like it wouldn't matter if their band could sort things out so as to avoid a war, but playing on the loyalties of everyone in the area could help or hinder them in that task.

But Kai didn't need to say anything, because Nei had apparently been thinking the same thing: "What about the others?" he asked, pointing to the map. "We could talk with Janus, but we would need to know exactly what we're talking about to have any chance of getting anywhere. For example, does anyone sympathize with you? Is there any chance of any other barons joining the fight on either side?" He wasn't cutting corners, that Nei. Some Barons would have been offended that he wasn't being all formal.

Kai tried to think of other alternatives to deal with Janus. They might be able to harass her army somehow, or even sneak into her castle to get information or somehow prevent her from going into battle. They could also take charge of the battle at the Castle, leaving the Baron to sneak off and try to persuade Janus. Kai doubted a Baron would be happy to relinquish command, but it was worth thinking about. The ideal solution would still be to talk with her, maybe play on some loyalty or debt or something, and get her to back down all by herself. Who knew, maybe she'd even listen to common sense. Why were all these Barons so intent on keeping things the way they were? It hardly seemed worth going to war over. Kai wondered what their true motivations were.

Thetrous shifted in his seat. They were obviously made for humans of a more normal height than his own half-blooded height. The thing that annoyed him the most was that his feet dangled. He had been raised by his mother so his stubborn dwarven pride did have limits. But he didn't suffer racists gladly. The fact that he had been chosen for this mission showed how short handed the Shields were with (pure) human members. The half dwarf was glad they respected him enough to trust him with the mission. But he still wished he wasn't here. The realm of Elensa always rubbed him the wrong way, and being near Endel? Worse.

Thetrous shifted again making some of the Baron's men turn and look at him. He scowled at them until they looked away. He also scowled at Leon, the pompous jerk as he smirked knowingly. At least the new recruits were studiously listening to the Baron and thinking. Thetrous was the kind of guy you pointed at a target and he went. He didn't have a mind for strategy. Well, other than hack and slash. He wasn't stupid or anything. He just wasn't a strategist. He'd cheat you out of all your money in cards given half a chance. And maybe even look through your stuff, but that was it really.

So when the Baron explained that the neighboring barondoms, and smaller holdings were holding off until they could choose the winning side, he wasn't listening that much. He really didn't care if the Baron was only being waylaid by two people rather than fourteen or whatever. Humans in this area were petty squabblers who loved money over honor. And that was not something Thetrous could respect.

Thetrous watched the men in the room as the Baron spoke. They weren't comfortable with what the Baron was doing. That much was obvious, but they were loyal. Was it just because of loyalty? Or was it because they knew Elensa had to change? After all it was only a matter of time before the Council reversed it's hands off policy if their appearance here meant anything. The half-human cocked his head to listen as the bowman in the group talked. So far the kid hadn't said much. Thetrous had heard about Mordechai through the grapevine of the Shields. He was extremely accurate with a bow. He was quiet and rarely talked. Unless you got him drunk, then apparently he wouldn't shut up (Something the half-dwarf planned on doing soon).

"Are you completely sure no one else will support you?" Mordechai asked. His brown eyes were very intent on the map. Thetrous was sure that the east was very backwards to the poor man. Even if he had been here for a while.

The Baron bobbed his head. "Some might eventually, but I don't have the time. All Heath has to do is still me long enough I so I wont be able to make it to the meeting." The Baron too frowned down at the map. "While most wont raise a hand against me, they still hate me for what I'm proposing. And by doing nothing they lend their silent approval." The Baron shook his head. "If you have any other ideas how to avoid this, I'm all ears."

Nei was done thinking for the day. He was used to these meetings but still only had limited tolerance to them. He'd only stepped up because no one else had started talking, and he felt a responsibility to do something because he was old guard. But the Baron had called them here without even having a plan for them, and obviously he didn't have anyone at all on his side. Maybe the best course was to ride out to see that Janus woman and do whatever seemed reasonable once they were there and couldn't back out. Nei caught Thetrous' eye; the swordsman looked as bored as himself and as eager for action. Let Leon do the talking. Or Mordechai. The kid was quiet, but now that he'd said something maybe he'd keep going. The Baron wanted ideas... Well, Nei didn't have any.

He took some quick glances to the side when he thought the Baron wasn't looking -- he was sitting right in front of him, so it wouldn't do to look completely unfocused. Nainë looked like she'd finally stopped stuffing herself with food. Now she was just popping a grape in her mouth every so often, and her eyes were still on the Baron. You could tell she was listening and probably deep in thought too. Maybe she could come up with a plan. Just pull Janus' will to attack straight out of her brain, he thought with a trace of his old skepticism of magic. Kainen looked completely above everything that was going on, but Nei didn't manage to catch his eye to see if he was restless like Thetrous and him, or just had a faraway look for some reason.

Mordechai continued to look at the map after the Baron spoke. It was apparent the man was disheartened by the lack of support, but he was still going through with it. The Baron's will was strong to oppose the history of years of racism and elitism. He didn't realize silence had fallen upon the chamber until he lifted his head. The darker skinned man frowned. It was obvious this small band had run out of constructive things to add. The White Shields usually had straight forward tasks. Go here, hit this. Kill so-and-so. Etcetera. This was a little out of most of their expertise. If he was judging by everyone faces. Even the cocky white boy Caden seemed to be at a loss. The Western man looked back at the map then the men in the room.

"So your real problem is the meeting." Leon said suddenly. "Do you honestly believe if you make it to the meeting alive that people will support you?" The older swordsman had sprung to his feet as if he was unable to keep still any longer. It make the Baron turn his head in order to look at Leon.

"I don't follow. But yes, I do believe that I can get enough support at the meeting in order to at least get my proposal onto the docket." The Baron looked a little confused at the line of reasoning.

"You said your problem was Heath and Janus." Leon said pointing at the two Barondoms. Then he looked up at the men, and woman, at the table. "But in reality it's getting LaFlur to the meeting. And making sure he has something to come back to." Leon cracked a large grin and suddenly Mordechai was getting what Leon was saying.

"That's brilliant." The young man said smiling. Leon cracked a smile and clasped the baron on the back. "All you have to do is be here and at the meeting. Thereby distracting both the Baron and Baroness." Leon's eyes flicked over to the mage. "Think you could manage that?"